Eastern European migrants ‘unlikely to head for UK’ – report

UKBA

A Foreign Office-commissioned report has directly challenged claims by David Cameron and others that Britain faces a significant new wave of immigration from eastern Europe when labour movement restrictions on Bulgaria and Romania are lifted next January. The study by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research says that Britain is unlikely to be the preferred destination for Bulgarians and Romanians and says those who do come are not planning to exploit the benefits system and public services. The researchers say it is not possible to put an accurate or reliable figure on how many people will come to Britain but adds that those who do move are far more likely to go to Spain, Italy and to a lesser extent Germany. The report drew immediate criticism that it was a “bucket of whitewash” from anti-migration campaigner Sir Andrew Green, of Migration Watch UK, for failing to estimate the likely scale of migration after next year’s changes. Read more at the Guardian[adsenseyu4]